News

Award-Winning Political Cartoonist Tom Tomorrow to Speak at Ithaca College

ITHACA, NY — Political cartoonist Tom Tomorrow — whose award-winning comic strip “This Modern World” skewers the powerful in media and politics — will give a visual presentation at Ithaca College on Thursday, Sept. 16. His 7:30 p.m. talk in Emerson Suites, Phillips Hall, is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Park Center for Independent Media.

Tom Tomorrow is the pen name of Dan Perkins, one of the most successful cartoonists in independent media. “This Modern World” made its debut in 1990 in the San Francisco alternative newspaper “SF Weekly.” It now appears in dozens of alternative weeklies nationwide as well as on websites such as Salon.com. In addition to its depictions of public figures — usually holding them up for ridicule — the strip includes such characters as Sparky the Wonder Penguin and his Boston terrier friend Blinky.

Tomorrow’s cartoons have been published in eight anthologies, including “When Penguins Attack” and “The Future’s So Bright I Can’t Bear to Look,” and a children’s book, “The Very Silly Mayor.” His work has also appeared in publications such as the “New Yorker,” “Esquire,” “The Economist” and “Mother Jones.” In 2009 he did the cover art for the Pearl Jam album “Backspacer.”

In addition to twice winning the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Journalism, Tomorrow has been honored with the Media Alliance Meritorious Achievement Award, Society of Professional Journalists’ James Madison Freedom of Information Award and James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism.

Based in the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, the Park Center for Independent Media was launched in 2008 as a national center for the study of media outlets that create and distribute content outside traditional corporate systems. For more information, visit /indy or contact Jeff Cohen, director of the center, at jcohen@ithaca.edu or (607) 274-1330.